


Slow Dancing To a Fast Song

by Spikedluv



Category: Shelter (2007)
Genre: Community: smallfandomfest, M/M, Post-Movie(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-30
Updated: 2012-05-30
Packaged: 2017-11-06 08:17:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/416700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spikedluv/pseuds/Spikedluv
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shaun takes Zach to his first gay bar.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Slow Dancing To a Fast Song

**Author's Note:**

> Schmoop. This story is for diva0789 for her donation to Donor’s Choose Anti-bullying programs in support of Kris Allen’s The Vision of Love. Also written for Round 11 of Small Fandoms Fest using the prompt: Shelter, Zach/Shaun, Shaun takes Zach to his 1st gay bar. Instead of being freaked Zach is cool with it. Maybe he likes being in a place where PDA/2 guys dancing is no big deal?
> 
> Written: May 30, 2012

Zach’s first thought when Shaun reached back to take his hand was that they couldn’t, that they had to be careful. And then he remembered that they didn’t. Trying not to blush because people were watching him do it, Zach slipped his hand into Shaun’s. Zach was glad he had when Shaun smiled at him. Gripping Zach’s hand tight, Shaun created a path through the crowd until they reached the bar. Shaun got the bartender’s attention, then turned to Zach and asked him what he’d like to drink.

“What are you having?” Zach asked.

Zach was mostly a beer guy (mainly because beer was cheap), or at least he had been before he and Shaun got together. Shaun had introduced Zach to drinks he’d never tried before, from expensive wine courtesy of Larry’s wine cellar, to stuff that came out of a blender and tasted like Kool Aid.

“I think I’m going to try their Mojito,” Shaun told them.

Zach didn’t know what that was, and he knew that drinks like that were expensive – he didn’t want to order something he might not like and waste it, and he knew he could always try Shaun’s if he wanted to. “What’s the name of the drink you made that one time, with the salt?”

A slow smile spread across Shaun’s face and Zach felt his skin grow hot as they both remembered the last time Shaun had blended up the drink. Before Shaun could say anything about it, the bartender appeared and Shaun ordered a Mojito and a Margarita. Zach repeated the name silently to himself and vowed not to forget it. When the bartender moved off, Shaun turned his attention back to Zach. He slid his hand across Zach’s lower back and bent his head to Zach’s.

“Brave man,” Shaun said, referring to the Margarita.

Zach shivered at the rough timbre in Shaun’s tone and resisted his first instinct, which was to pull away. Instead he pushed his shoulder into Shaun’s side and looked up at him.

“What?” Shaun said, an indulgent smile on his face.

“I keep forgetting,” Zach said.

“Forgetting what?”

“That we don’t have to be careful here.”

“You mean we can do this?” Shaun said, sliding his arm all the way around Zach’s waist and pulling him in close. “And this?” Shaun lowered his head slowly enough that Zach could read his intent and pull away if he wanted to. He didn’t want to. Zach tilted his chin up and met Shaun’s lips with his own. Shaun made a little sound – hungry and pleased – that went straight to Zach’s dick.

Shaun started to deepen the kiss, but they were interrupted by the arrival of their drinks. Zach blushed, but the bartender didn’t give them a second glance. Shaun paid, and slid the glass with the salt-encrusted rim over to Zach. Zach ignored – or tried to, his body wasn’t as easy to control as his mind, and even that didn’t always do what he told it to – Shaun’s smile as he took the first sip.

A barstool near them emptied and Shaun installed Zach on it despite his protest that he could stand, and they both surveyed the bar. Shaun stood with his chest pressed up against Zach’s back, an arm around him, hand pressed distractingly against his belly. Zach tried not to squirm.

Before they’d moved to LA the only placed they’d been able to be free with touching and kissing had been Shaun’s parents’ house. They’d gone out in public – surfing, for dinner – but they’d had to act like they were nothing more than friends. It had sucked. Zach had wanted to touch Shaun in ways that let everyone know they were together, but he’d been too scared. Afraid of what people would think.

It seemed strange to think about that now – about how he’d almost lost the best thing that had happened to him since Cody was born, that he’d almost thrown away his future, his _happiness_ because of what other people might think.

They still had to be cautious, of course. They didn’t wear signs proclaiming that they were a couple, but they didn’t try to hide it, either. Cody had met a girl his age at the pool, Jane, and had introduced them to her mother as his dads, and then given Zach a defiant look, daring him to deny it. She hadn’t blinked an eyelash. Neither had Shaun’s agent, who’d stopped by their apartment early enough one morning that they’d all just crawled out of bed. All she’d said was, “He’s certainly a couple steps up from the last one.” Zach had blushed without knowing why.

It had helped that Tori and Gabe had been so matter of fact about it, even if Gabe did still occasionally ask an inappropriate question that made Shaun swat the back of his head.

They did family things with Cody, but this was the first time Zach had been to a bar where no one would look twice if he and Shaun held hands, or hugged, or even kissed. Where it was, in fact, almost expected of them. Zach couldn’t help blushing, though, when he saw some of the couples on the dance floor, grinding against each other.

Shaun chuckled in his ear. “We’ll wait ‘til we get home for that.”

Zach was relieved to hear it, yet at the same time, just knowing that Shaun was going to hold him like that, press their bodies together and run his hands over him . . . . Zach moaned softly. Shaun nudged the side of Zach’s head with his chin and Zach immediately tilted his head back for Shaun’s kiss. Shaun kept it light, but Zach didn’t think he’d have been able to stop him if he hadn’t, didn’t think he’d have wanted to.

They sipped their drinks and continued to people-watch. Zach leaned into Shaun and placed one hand over the hand Shaun still rested on his belly. There were several guys there as couples, Zach noted, and some that were obviously on the prowl. Some of them even cast their eyes over Zach, even though he was clearly with someone. Shaun didn’t say anything when Zach wiggled uncomfortably under their perusal, merely tightened his hold on Zach and pressed a kiss to his temple. He chuckled softly, though, when Zach noticed some guy checking out Shaun and sent him a glare that kept him moving along.

“Finish your drink,” Shaun said, and Zach obediently tipped the glass to empty it of the last few drops.

Shaun took their empty glasses and set them on the bar, then took Zach’s hand and pulled him off the stool.

“Where are we . . . ?” Zach started to ask, then realized the direction in which Shaun was leading him. “Oh . . . no,” he protested.

Shaun either didn’t hear him over the music, or ignored him. Zach considered tugging his hand out of Shaun’s, but the last thing he wanted was to get separated from him. The thought of digging in his heels crossed Zach’s mind, but he wasn’t really one to make a public spectacle of himself. Which is why he _really_ didn’t want to be on the dance floor.

The dance floor was small, the only music that provided by the jukebox in the corner, and Shaun soon stopped moving forward. He turned so that he was facing Zach and pulled him close so he could slip his arm around Zach’s back. Zach opened his mouth to say something, to tell Shaun that he didn’t dance, but Shaun was smiling at him. The smile that made Zach’s insides get all twisted up. The smile that turned Zach to putty in Shaun’s very capable hands.

It really was unfair, how much Zach would do just to have Shaun smile at him like that. And Shaun probably didn’t even know the power it held over him. Zach stepped in even closer to Shaun and slid his free hand around Shaun’s shoulder. “I’m not very good at this,” he said.

“You’re better than you know,” Shaun said, and Zach got the feeling that they weren’t merely talking about dancing anymore.

“Shaun,” Zach said, but Shaun interrupted him.

“It’s easy; just follow my lead.”

Zach could do that – had been doing just that for a while now.

Shaun pressed Zach’s hand to his heart and just held it there. Zach curled his arm around Shaun’s neck and pulled himself in tight against Shaun. He rested the side of his head against the side of Shaun’s face and let himself move with Shaun. _This_ he knew – the feel of Shaun’s body against his own, the touch of Shaun’s hands on him, his own hands on Shaun. Zach turned his head, just a little bit, and pressed his lips to Shaun’s neck. Shaun’s fingers flexed on Zach’s back in reaction, and with their chests pressed together Zach could feel Shaun’s breath hitch at the light touch.

Zach’s stomach tightened – he loved that Shaun couldn’t hide the way Zach made him feel, and even more than that, didn’t bother trying to. Zach kissed him again, open mouthed, tongue pressing against the tendon in Shaun’s neck. The grip on Zach’s hand tightened and Shaun said, “I thought we were going to save . . . .”

The teasing tone broke off with a groan when Zach closed his teeth on the sensitive skin. Shaun’s hand slipped down and he pulled Zach in, their hips meeting, neither of them able to hide the way the other made them feel. Zach gasped wetly against Shaun’s neck as they rubbed together. His tongue eagerly met Shaun’s when Shaun turned his head and claimed Zach’s lips.

The slow song had changed for a fast one when they broke the kiss. Neither of them cared. They continued to move together as if Shaun was spinning him around in the privacy of their own kitchen, where the only interruption would be Cody wanting his turn to stand on Shaun’s feet and get twirled around the island until they were both dizzy and Zach was laughing at them.

That’s sort of how Zach felt now – dizzy with the way Shaun made him feel. Zach was new to this – being in a relationship with a guy, but more importantly, in a relationship with Shaun. He’d stood back and let Shaun lead him, teach him. But maybe it was time for Zach to step up and take the lead. To take on an equal responsibility for their relationship.

“I love you,” Zach said. It came out sounding more desperate than he’d intended it to, and Shaun’s eyebrows went up.

“I love you, too,” Shaun said, pulling Zach in as if he needed the protection of Shaun’s arms.

Zach almost let him. Instead he pressed his lips to Shaun’s ear so he didn’t have to scream over the music. “Aside from Cody,” Zach said, “you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

Shaun looked . . . like he was going to cry, actually. “The two of you are the best thing that has ever happened to me, too,” he said, his voice cracking.

Zach already knew that, even though Shaun had never said so in those particular words. He showed them every day how happy he was that they were in his life. Zach hoped that they showed Shaun the same. He thought they did. Actions were easier for him than words. Zach thought he sounded kind of ridiculous sometimes when he tried to tell Shaun how much he meant to him. But if they made Shaun look at him like he was looking at him now, and hold him like he was now, then maybe Zach would try to find the words more often.

“Do you want to head back to the bar?” Shaun said.

But maybe for now actions would speak just as well for him. “No,” Zach said, and snuggled closely to Shaun, not caring how silly they might look to anyone else as they slowly moved together to the beat of a fast song.

The End


End file.
